Italian Andrea Migno celebrated a new all-time lap record at his home GP this morning after storming FP3 with a 1’56.234 time.

The Snipers rider secured his promotion into the afternoon’s Q2 shootout in fine style after breaking the record by almost two-tenths, Jaume Masia and Gabriel Rodrigo coming close as they too went under the previous marker while the championship leader, Pedro Acosta, failed to secure the top-14 for the second Saturday in a row.

The track was already up to 21℃ as the lightweight class headed into battle for Q2 contention. 1’57.807 was the initial gateway for promotion and with Niccolò Antonelli already hitting 1’58.169 on his third lap, the pace was heating up as quickly as the Tuscan countryside.

A dramatic highside for Yamanaka on the entry to turn four left the Pruestel rider on the sidelines after just 10-minutes of action as Andrea Migno took charge of the standings with a 1’57.501. Stefano Nepa was the next to strike, shaving a further tenth from the ever-increasing pace, before Antonelli hit back, with Jason Dupasquier, Jeremy Alcoba and Pedro Acosta joining the previous leaders inside the top-six.

Friday’s victor, Darryn Binder, began his Saturday challenge sitting 11th in the FP3 standings and running 58.3 pace, his Petronas teammate, McPhee, in 16th, as the halfway stage saw the pack pit for fresh tyres.

As far as the top-14 was concerned, only Nepa and Dupasquier had improved on their previous best by the time the group returned with 18-minutes to go. Sergio Garcia and Filip Salac immediately set about competing for the top-spot with the GasGas rider already just 0.07s away from the circuit’s record with a 1’56.480. The pace picked up across the board with 57.4 now the cut off for the entry to the pole shootout and less than a second covering all 14 positions.

With 10 to go, Garcia remained in charge, from Migno, Salac, Jaume Masia and Antonelli as the pitlane filled once again, the action firing up in earnest for the final five minutes.

Masia was the first to attack the times, his teammate getting in the way as the initial lap fell away, and an excursion over track limits adding the final nail but his recovery was immediate and the next lap glowed red. Hitting the top with a 1’56.358, the KTM was firmly in charge with a new all-time record as the final minute began, Gabriel Rodrigo just 0.03s back as he too looked to improve.

A precarious end to the session saw McPhee drop to the danger zone in the combined times before his final effort boosted him to 10th overall.

Migno stole the show in the final seconds with a blistering 1’56.234 from Masia and Rodrigo, Garcia, Dupasquier and Alcove claiming the top-six. Ayumu Sasaki sat seventh from Nepa, McPhee and Romano Fenati with Deniz Öncü, Salac, Dennis Foggia and Tatsuki Suzuki claiming the session top-14. Despite finishing 17th, Binder’s Friday effort provided Q2 promotion, Suzuki the unlucky recipient of the demotion, with Acosta once again facing the Q1 fight after placing 16th, 0.975s adrift of Migno’s record.